Street-sweeping machine.



G. W. CONNOR.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29, 1916. l Patented Dee. 12,1916.

4"SHEETSSHEET 1.

G. W. CONNOR.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29. me.

Patented Dec. 12

LQUMAQ$ 4 ISHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. W. CONNOR.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29. I916 Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

SHEETS-SHEET a.

G. W. CONNOR.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED we. 29. 1916.

lPatemwd D643. 12, 1916.

4SHEETS-SHEET 4.

"Uhl'llE rarer t ti-EURGE 'W. CUN'NOR, 0F BEAEWALLON, NORTH ()i-lJEtOLINit ASSIGNOB 0F ONEJl-lfitlldi L130 FRANK LAMB, OF CHESTER, WEST VIRGINIA.

STREET-SWEEPING MACHINE.

tpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented pee. in, rare.

ln carrying out the present invention, it

is my purpose to provide a machine of the 4 class described whereby the dirt and refuse will be effectively removed from the surface of the roadway or street and subsequently deposited in a receptacle or dust boX so that such refuse may be carried away and dumped, and wherein the dust will be kept down during the operation of the machine. it is also my purpose to provide a street sweeping machine wherein the sweepers or brushes will be under the complete control of the operator so that the same may be elevated and lowered and wherein the component parts will be so arranged and correlated. as to produce an efficient and efl'ective machine and reduce the possibility of derangement to a minimum.

Furthermore, it aim to provide a machine of the type set forth wherem the parts in contact with the surface being cleaned -will be capable of relative movement so that such parts may adapt themselves to any inequalities or irregularities in the surface of the roadway or street and thereby prevent mutilation or fracture thereof.

A further object of the invention is the provision of. a street sweeping machine wherein gutter brushes will cotiperate with the main sweepers when such is desired so that gutters and analogous places may be swept, such gutter brushes being under the control of the operator of the machine and capable of being rendered active and inactive.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth in and falling within the scope of the claim.

in the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a top plan view of a street sweeping malarged top plan view of the dust pans and associated parts. Fig. 5 is a perspective viewof one of the pans. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the conveyor brushes. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view therethrough. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of the driving mechanism of one of the brushes, parts being shown in section.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the numeral 1 designates a supporting frame composed, in the present instance, of side bars 2, 2 spaced apartand converging toward each other at their forward ends and end bars 3, 3 interconnecting the side bars. Suitably fastened to the frame 1 adjacent to the forward end thereof is the front axle l having the opposite ends thereof connected through the medium of steering knuckles 5 with spindles 6 carrying steering wheels 7 while appropriately connected to the frame adjacent to the rear end thereof is the rear axle 8 equipped at its opposite ends with traction wheels 9. Spanning the side bars 2, 2 and secured thereto at the rear end of the frame is a platform 10 constructed of any suitable material and provided at its rear end with a seat 11, a top or hood 12 being disposed above the seat to protect the operator thereon.

Arranged at the opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the vehicle and suspended therefrom adjacent to therear end thereof are rotary sweepers or brushes 13, 13 disposed, in the present instance, at

- an acute angle to the path of travel of the machine. The opposite ends of the shaft of each brush are journaled in horizontally v alining bearings carried by the lower ends of vertical rods 14, 14 mounted for sliding movement within bearings 15 carried by the platform 10 and provided at their upper ends with rack teeth 16 meshing with pinions 17 fast upon the opposite ends of a horizontal shaft 18 journaled in suitable alining bearings carried by the top of the platform and disposed in a plane parallel with the plane of the respective brush or sweeper 13. By means of this construction,

ill?

it will be seen that the sweepers 13, 13 are suspended from the vehicle, and by rotating the shafts 18 in one direction the rods 14 and the sweepers carried at the lower ends thereof will be elevated, while when the direction of rotation of the shafts is reversed the rods and sweepers will be lowered. In the present instance, a ratchet wheel 19 is keyed upon each shaft 18 while one end of a lever 20 loosely encircles the shaft immediately adjacent to the ratchet wheel and is provided with a dog or pawl 21 normally engaging the teeth of the ratchet and adapted, when the lever is moved in one direction, to bind against the adjacent teeth of the ratchet wheel whereby the shaft 18 will be rotated to elevate the brush, the dog idling over the ratchet wheel in the reverse movement of the lever. A holding pawl 22 is pivoted upon a suitable bracket 23 carried by the platform in proximity to the ratchet wheel 19 and such holding pawl normall Y engages the ratchet wheel so as to prevent backward movement thereof in the idling of the dog 21 over the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Thus, when the levers 20 are swung in one direction the dogs 21 engage the ratchet Wheels 19 to rotate the shafts 18 and so elevate the brushes, while when the levers are swung in the reverse direction so that the dogs may obtain a fresh grip upon the ratchet wheels the holding pawls 22 act to prevent backward rotation of the shafts 18. On the other hand, when it is desired to lower the brushes, the dogs 21 and 22 are swung out of engagement with the ratchet wheels 19 whereby the shafts 18 will revolve under the Weight of the brushes and rods 14, thereby permitting the brushes to come into contact with the surface of the roadway or street to be cleaned.

In the present instance, the machine is self-propelled and the driving mechanism therefor comprises a suitable form of motor or engine 23 mounted upon the platform 10 and connected up with a shaft 24. arranged transversely of the platform and journaled in suitable bearings 25 adjacent to the 0 p0- site ends thereof. The opposite ends 0 the shaft 24 are equipped with sprocket wheels 25, while the hubs of the traction wheels 9 are provided with sprocket wheels 26 and over the sprocket wheels 25 and 26 are trained endless chains 27 which, when the shaft 24 is rotated from the motor 23, impart movement to the traction wheels to propel the vehicle. For the steering purposes, the knuckles 5, 5 are provided with forwardly extending arms 28 interconnected by means of a bar 29 provided at a point approximately centrally of its length with teeth meshing with a. pinion 30 fast upon the lower end of a vertical shaft 31 journaled in bearings carried by the forward end of the frame of the vehicle and having the upper end thereof provided with a bevel wheel. 32 meshing with a similar wheel 33 upon the end of a horizontal steering shaft 34 arranged longitudinally of the vehicle and terminating in ahand wheel within convenient reach of the operator upon the seat 11.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for illustrative purposes, the driving mechanism for each brush comprises a. frusto-conical shaped friction wheel 39 loosely surrounding the rear axle and fast to the hub of the adjacent traction wheel, and a friction disk 37 having the periphery thereof in frictional engagement with the friction surface of the wheel 86 and fast upon one end of a sleeve 38 surrounding a shaft 89 journalcd in alining bearings carried by arms 40, 40 depending from the under surface of the platform 10. Formed upon the free end of the sleeve 38 is an an nular flange 41 provided at suitable points with pins 42 arranged in parallelism with the axes of the shaft 39 and the sleeve 38 and capable of sliding movement within apertures formed in av collar 43 fast upon the shaft 39. The flange 41, pins 42 and the collar 43 form a connection between each sleeve 38 and the respective shaft 39 whereby the shaft will rotate with the sleeve while the latter may slide along the shaft independently of the turning movement thereof. The free end of each shaft 89 has a sprocket wheel 44 keyed thereon, while journalcd in horizontally alining bearings carried by 'the lower ends of the arms 40 is a shaft pa rallel with the respective shaft 39 and provided with a sprocket wheel 46 over which and the sprocket wheel 44 is trained an endless chain 47. Keyed upon one end of the shaft 45 is a sprocket wheel 48, while fast upon the inner end of each sweeper shaft isa sprocket wheel 49 and over the sprocket wheels 49 and 48 are trained endless chains 50 by means of which the sweepers are driven. Each shaft 39 and 45 is arranged in parallelism with the axis of the respective brush or sweeper 13.

Assuming the machine to be in operation and traversing the street or roadway to be cleaned, it will be seen that the frustoconical friction wheels 36 in engagement with the disks 3? will rotate the latter and so impart .movement to the sleeves 38 and the shafts 39. In the rotation of the shafts 39, motion is transmitted to the shafts 45, through the medium of the sprocket wheels 44, chains 47 and sprocket wheels 46, while from the shafts 45 the sweepers or brushes are rotated by means of the sprocket wheels 48 and 49 and the chains 50.

In order that the disks 37 may be moved relatively to the wheels 36 and over the friction surfaces thereof to vary the speeds of the shafts 39, I fix to the rear axle in proxtill aosaes imity to each wheel 36 a. bracket 51 upon which is pivoted between its ends a horizon- 52 having one end thereof forlred and connected to the perlphery of the flange 4K1 on the respective sleeve 38 at diametricallv opposite points through the medium of pin and slot connections and the opposite end pivotally connected to "one end of a horixontal rod The free ends of the two rods 53 overlap each other and are pivotally connected to the lower end of a controlling lever 5t fulerumed between its ends upon the platform 10 and movable about a rack 55, such lover being equipped with a locking dog designed to engage the teeth of the rack to hold the lever in the desired position. lnterposed between the collar $3 on each shaft 39 and the confronting end of the respective sleeve 38 is a coiled expansion s5 ing 56 surrounding the shaft and acting normally to hold the sleeve 38 at its limit of outward movement on the shaft and the disk 37 at the relatively small end of the frusto-conical shaped friction wheel 36. As ust described, the disks 37 normally engage the friction surfaces of the wheels 36 at the relatively small ends of the latter so that in the operation of the machine the brushes are rotated at the minimum speed. Should it be desired to increase the speed of the brushes the lever is swung about its fulcrum and over the rack whereby the rods 53, 53 having the inner ends thereof pivotally connected to each other and fastened to the lower end of the lever 5i, tend to straighten out, toggle fashion, thereby swinging the levers 52, 52 about their pivotal connections with the bracket 51 and so sliding the sleeves 38 along the shafts 39 and against the action of the springs 56. Thus, the disks 3'? move longitudinally of the wheels 36 toward the large ends thereof, the lever 54 being subsequently locked in position.

Disposed between the side bars 2, 2 of the frame at the forward end thereof is a re ceptacle comprising, in the present instance, a bottom wall 57 having the rear portion thereof inclined downwardly toward the brushes or sweepers 13, 13 and terminating in advance of such sweepers, and the forward portion=thereof inclined upwardly and emptying into a dirt box 58 carried by the front end of the machine. Extending upwardly from the opposite longitudinal edges of the bottom wall 57 are side walls 59, 59 diverging outwardly of each other and merging into the side walls of the box 58.

The numeral 60 designates a dust pan corrmrising a central section 61 and end sections 62, 62 having the inner edges thereof overlapping the edges of the section 61 and the forward edges thereof cut at an angle and forming a continuation of the edge of the section 61. The rear edge of the pan is bent upon itself as at 63 and interlocks with the upwardly bent edges of the walls 57 and 59, the point of connection between the dust pan and the walls 3i and 59 forming a h e whereby the various sections of the pan may swing independently of one another so as to adaptthemselves to inequalities in the surface of the street or roadway. will be noted that this dust pan is cut in the form of a triangle having the base thereof connected with the walls 5'? and 59, while the apex is disposed at the meeting ends of the brushes or sweepers 13, 13 and the sides in engagement with the sweeping surfaces of the brushes or sweepers, the sides of the pan being disposed in proximity to the ground so that in the rotation of the sweepers the dirtand refuse will be thrown upon the dust pan. llwing to the walls 59, 5.) extending up wardly and outwardly from the lower wall 57, it will be seen that the end sections 62, 62 will be similarly arranged with respect to the center section 61 so that the refuse thrown onto such end sections will fall onto the center section.

illournaled in the opposite side walls of the dust box 58 is a shaft 64 while suspended from the opposite side bars of the frame 1 are supports 65, 65 and passed through the lower ends of such supports and the side walls 59, 59 is a rod 66 upon which are fixed angular bars 67 spaced apart in parallelism and having the forward ends thereof terminating at the juncture of the downwardly and upwardly inclined portions of the bottom wall 57 and the rear ends thereof terminating adjacent to the rear end of the central section 61 of the dust pan. dournaled in the last-mentioned ends of the angular bars 67, 6'? is a shaft 68 and fixed upon the shafts 6t and 68 are sprocket wheels spaced apart and trained over such sprocket wheels are endless chains 69 designed to travel in parallel paths. The forward conveyer shaft 64. is equipped with a sprocket wheel over which and the second sprocket wheel on the engine shaft is trained an endless chain 64 by means of which the conveyer is driven, while the forward ends of the angular liars 67 carry a shaft upon which is loosely mounted an idler roller 67 engaging the chains 69 at the juncture of the downwardly and upwardly inclined portions of the hottom wall 67 so as to hold the brushes of the conveyer in contact with such lower wall. A hood 76 incloses the brushes, conveyer and the dust box to prevent the escape of dust and dirt in the operation of the machine. Rigidly secured to the chains 69 are arms 70, spaced appropriate distances apart and carrying at their outer ends brushes i'l having convexed working faces working over the center section of the dust pan and the bottom wall 57 in the travel of the chains so that the refuse and dirt thrown onto the center section of the pan from the brushes readily apparent.

v and the end sections thereof will be carried along the bottom wall 57 and deposited within the dirt box 58. The brushes 71 are capable of movement relatively to the arms 70 so that they will effectively engage the upwardly inclined portion of' the bottom wall 57 after passing the junction of such portion with the downwardly inclined portion and in order to limit this relative movement of the brushes the lower ends of the arms are formed with sockets 72 receiving .pins 7 3 fixed to the backs of the brushes and serving to limit the movement of the latter relatively to the arms.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction, mode of operation and manner of employing my invention will be It will be seen that I have provided a street sweeping machine wherein the brushes are under the complete control of the operator and are at all times in communication with the dust pan While the latter, being composed of a number of independently movable sections, may adapt itself to any inequalities in the roadway without affecting the operation of the machine. I

In order that gutters and the like may be efiectively cleaned, I employ gutter brushes 74 connected to the outer ends of the shafts of the sweepers 13 through the medium of .a universal joint 74 and capable of move ment to active and inactive positions. The outer ends of the shafts of the brushes 7 4: are connected to the lower ends of cords 7 5 or the like trained Over guide sheaves 76 carried upon. brackets 77 secured to the platform 10, the inner ends of the cords 75 being fastened to controlling levers 78 movable over racks and adapted to be locked in any desired position. Thus, when the levers 78 are swung in one direction the gutter brushes are elevated while when the lovers are swung in the opposite direction such brushes are lowered to active position.

I claim:

In a street sweeping machine, brushes disposed at the opposite sides of the center line of the machine and arranged at an angle to the path of travel thereof, means for raising and lowering said brushes, shafts arranged behind the respective brushes and parallel therewith, sleeves slidably mounted upon said shafts, friction wheels secured to the hub of the rear wheels of the machine and adapted to rotate therewith, friction disks on the outer ends of said sleeves re spectively engaging said friction wheels whereby motion may be imparted from said friction wheels to said shafts, driving connections between said shafts and brushes, and means for sliding said sleeves along said shafts to vary the speed of said disks relatively to said wheels.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. CONNOR.

Witnesses:

S. D. BURNS, H. H. HARRIS. 

